The Illness of Umbra
by Snip Stiff
Summary: From a scarred city, a stranger will arrive in a strange land by circumstances beyond his control. Realizing the odds of returning home are against him, he decides to make a place in this new world the only way he knows how. But the past has ways of following us, wherever we go... (Disclaimer: RWBY and [Prototype] are properties of Rooster Teeth and Radical Entertainment)
1. A Talking To and a Falling Out

_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._

The sky was dark with overcast in the late hours of the evening. The streets were empty save for the occasional meandering pedestrian or group seated in a cafe patio. Few cars rolled through the streets and those that did wasted no time getting to where they were going. The atmosphere could almost be described as sleepy, if not for the uncanniness borne of the densely packed, towering buildings and their disproportionately little occupation in New York's "Red District".

Seated on the corner of a street sat a restaurant with a proud, blazing neon sign shining above it's doors. "Fly Guy's Burgers and Fries" was open for business and it's owner, Guy Dalton, was enjoying Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" playing from the Jukebox as he cleaned the bar counter after a profitable Happy Hour.

The proprietor was a far cry from any conventional business owner, as any new patron would quickly observe the moment they walked in. Keeping true to the business' name, or perhaps the reverse, Guy was a humanoid creature with features only a fly could possess. Large, dark compound eyes on a sharp, bald face, a dark grey exoskeleton covered in very fine, iridescent hairs instead of skin, four arms, and wings coming out of the back of his black dress vest. Despite the extensive inhuman traits, Guy's human characteristics were more than obvious enough to compensate, and created more of a persona rather than a freakish horror. One of the reasons why he opted out of having an abdomen, besides it making it a literal pain in the ass to sit down.

Such forms weren't uncommon in the Old Red Zone, if one knew where to look and when.

With two rags in his lower set of hands, a Windex bottle in his upper right, and the last tapping its digits to the music, Guy continued to clean up the various alcoholic and stomach fluids off the bar.

Outside, a dark car rapidly pulled up alongside the curb. The driver door swung open, the driver barely making any effort to check the lock before heading straight toward the restaurant.

Dressed in a black three-piece suit and her hair tied into a bun on the back of her head, Dana Mercer slowed down as she walked through the door, not wanting to accidentally send a patron to the floor in her hurry. She immediately headed straight for the bar, more specifically towards Guy.

"Hey Guy, is Hades-"

"Missed 'em," Guy interrupted, his focus remaining on the bar.

Dana expression fell before she slowly pulled out a seat. That's not what she wanted to hear. Now things were going to be more awkward.

"Damnit. Thought I could get here as he left," she said, slowly rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands.

"You know where he is; what's so different there than here?" Guy asked.

"The point was to convince him not to go. Now it's not to go _again_. While we're _there_ ," she answered.

"He's grieving. Most of us are."

"He's different," she answered, resting her hands on the counter, her gaze down.

She took a deep breath.

"He doesn't have anything else to _compensate_. Everyone else has... I don't know, _something_ to remember before the shit hit the fan. He _doesn't_. Literally everything he knows has been the Red Zone, the outbreak, Gentek, and Blackwatch. And _killing_. His whole life has been one big _fuckfest_ , but now it's over and stuff's changing fast. Too fast.

"The closest thing to a family he had fucked him over and left him to _die_ , and he was on his own from that point on with shit he's never seen, done, or even _understood_ swimming in his head with practically _nothing_ to contrast it with. It's important to teach him to let go, because if he doesn't…"

She sighed as she left the statement hanging. She reached up, took out the scrunchie holding her bun together, and ran her hands through her loose hair.

" _Fuck_ , it's a fucking _miracle_ he's lasted this long without incident."

Guy slowed down his cleaning, letting Dana's words hang in the air before making his next statement.

"You think he's gonna be just like Alex."

Dana scowled, she hated having to think about it, but she couldn't deny he had a point.

"Alex couldn't go two full years without getting shot in the face by his crush and deciding humanity was a shitpile that only he could clean up," Dana shot back, "It's been fucking _five_ and Hades hasn't said or done _anything_."

Dana perked up slightly, her gaze lingering on the rows upon rows of alcohol on the shelves behind the bar, "Maybe that's just 'cause Heller's always on his ass; can't bring himself trust him for the same reasons. I think we can help him; really, I _do._ But I can't help but feel that it would too easy to fuck him up and… and have to put him down."

Her gaze fell back down to her hands.

"Like Alex."

Silence ran across the bar after that, save for the slight squeaking of the rag rubbing across a ring of sticky beer residue. The two stood and sat there, not speaking for a few more moments before Guy began storing his cleaning supplies back under the bar.

"I wouldn't worry about him too much," He stated.

Dana scoffed, raising an eyebrow, "How do you figure?"

"Like you said: Alex lost it at two, and Hades made it past five and still going strong," Guy said, as he continued fishing under the counter, where the sounds of clanging glass could be heard.

"You and Heller have already done a good job in keeping him involved in Cleanup Detail. He's done great in helping out in the rebuilding around here; the Red Zo-... er, Red District is almost completely fixed up!" Guy cheerfully remarked, gesturing one of his hands toward the city outside the door.

"Plus, ever since we set him up cleaning dishes last week," jerking a thumb toward a door leading to the inner areas of the restaurant, "He's been a good employee; always on time and willing to help out. He's as quiet as a corpse and can be... odd, but he doesn't strike me as someone with a hidden hatred for humanity or dreams of world domination."

Dana was silent after that, instead deciding that her hands were more worthy of her attention. The sound of something glass being placed in front of her caught her attention.

As Guy poured the glass of whiskey, he held up a hand when Dana reached for her wallet.

"Nah; you need it more than the next guy."

"Thanks," Dana sighed as she slowly sipped from the glass, enjoying the familiar burn of the bronze liquid.

The two remained as such, enjoying each other's presence without talking until Dana's glass ran dry. At which point she handed the glass back to Guy.

"Thanks for that."

"No problem."

Dana pushed her chair back and stood up, stretching her arms.

"Guess I'd better get this over with," she said as she began walking toward the door.

"Want help?"

"No thanks; you're busy."

Dana didn't make it halfway toward the door before Guy turned toward the kitchen.

"Hey Marco!" Guy yelled, "I'm heading out! Watch the lobby, I'll be back in a bit!"

"Alright!" responded a voice as a black, red veined tendril peeked out from the door to wave.

Dana frowned as Guy hopped over the bar and walked past her.

"You and I both know you're gonna want more to drink after this."

Dana gave no argument as she followed him toward her car.

* * *

The two drove in Dana's car further into the Red District. There was no conversation between the two, but it was a comfortable silence. There wasn't much to say that hadn't already been said. It was as if it was the time for action and the car ride was merely an intermission.

A very temporary intermission.

"Any idea what you're going to say to him?" Guy asked as he stopped at a red light.

"Hmm?" Dana asked, her gaze looking through the door window

"I asked if you know what you're gonna say to him when we get there."

"...No, not really. Just… gonna have to make it up as I go," Dana replied slowly replied.

Guy waited a moment as he considered his next question.

"A lot of people visit places of tragedy, why's he so different?"

Dana laughed, "You make it sound as if he lost a loved one. He _hated_ the doc for what he did."

"Well then what of the... _others?_ " Guy asked, putting heavy emphasis on the final word.

Dana grimaced, "He didn't know what to do and freaked out. I can't blame him for trying to prevent his past from happening again."

"Sure, but back to the point."

"I get it, I get it. But to answer that, it is pretty much what I said earlier."

Guy accelerated past the intersection as the light turned green.

"Is that it?"

Dana's head whipped back, sending a harsh glare his way as her temper was tested.

"Why the _fuck_ do you keep asking me these stupid fucking questions? I just _told_ you this crap," Dana snapped.

Guy raised his lower set of hands in defense, "You said you're trying to prevent a psychopath in the making. Consider this the day of your exam. As your, hehe, _wingman_ it's my job to check and make sure you memorized your notes," Guy said, chuckling at the pun.

Dana continued to glare for a few seconds before letting out an explosive sigh.

"... _Fine_. Part of it is also to prove to him that he's not _alone_. Again, the only memories he has other than being Gentek's-no, _Mercer's_ experiment is the shit he sucked out of other people's heads, and

they all end in them getting eaten by him, obviously. I'd feel alone if I were in that place so I just want to... I don't know, meet him halfway or something. Help get him to connect with other people in a _normal_ way for _literally once_ in his whole fucking life."

Guy let out a chuckle, "You sound really sappy right now, you know that?"

"Fuck you. You asked."

"Sure, but it's not me you should be worrying about, because..."

Guy slowed the vehicle as he pulled into an empty parking lot adjacent to a large, empty, flat space where a building may have once stood.

"We're here."

Dana looked across from Guy and out his door window, toward the empty lot. There, standing a few yards from the sidewalk stood a tall, lone figure.

Dana stared into empty space for a few moments, collecting her thoughts, before opening the door and stepping out of the car.

"No point waiting. Let's just get this over with so we can head back and drink to forget this even happened."

"Want me with ya'?"

"No. Fewer people in this conversation the better."

And with that, Dana walked back to the sidewalk before following it toward the empty lot.

As she approached, she could clearly make out the subject's features. The person, male, stood at an easy seven feet tall with an additional five or six inches. He wore a black double-breasted trench coat that went down to his ankles, which were contained in black shoes. The coat's belt, tied around his waist, served well to demonstrate the man's thinness. His hands, clasped together in front of him, were clad in tightly fitting black gloves. The most colorful article on the person was a bright, cobalt blue scarf wrapped around the neck of his shiny bald head. One end hanging to his pectoral, the other to his lower back. The limited flesh that was observable was very pale.

 _"Well, he's still wearing the coat and scarf I gave him. That's a good sign,"_ Dana thought to herself.

The figure did not move as she eventually reached his side. A heavy silence descended upon the two, as they stared out ahead to the empty lot.

" _Fuuuuck. I'm gonna need a lot of drinks after this,"_ she thought.

* * *

Hades stood where the threshold for Gentek's most primary facility once stood.

Where his birthplace once stood.

Many thoughts and emotions ran through his head. Some of which weren't even his own.

Those thoughts and emotions were mostly of fear, horror, and pain. His were of anger, hate, and remorse. They swimmed in his head like oils of varying densities and viscosity; separate, but unclear.

He heard a car approach and park in a nearby parking lot. His head turned very slightly, his attention raised. No one really comes here. He heard the car door open, and heels on the pavement.

Dana.

He liked Dana. Dana was nice. She helped him talk to others and help them better. He knew how to talk and help, but she made it more… effective? Efficient? It was easier with her, that he knew for certain. She also made talking with Heller easier too. Heller didn't like him very much. Hades probably wouldn't have liked him either, but Dana told him why he should. Heller was angry because he was hurt. Hades was angry because he was hurt too.

He knew things she didn't though. Like how she was scared of him. He could smell it when she was near. His preternatural senses allowed him to detect things to a degree no human or even animal could. She never showed it but it was there, like a vapor. She was nervous; agitated. It got fainter over time, but never fully gone. He knew why, he heard it once when Dana and Heller were talking.

They thought he was insane.

Dangerous.

But they were right in a way, weren't they? He hurt many people. Some of them good, but many of them bad.

His anger and hatred flared as the two images of a winged star and of three hexagons arrayed like a upside-down triangle entered his mind. These feelings fleeted however, as the images seemed to literally bleed, leading the emotions to come together into one of… satisfaction.

He _liked_ hurting those people.

They _deserved_ it.

The images dissipated, and the feelings followed. That was a long time ago. They were gone, punished. They were not going to hurt anyone else anymore.

Hades looked down at the ground, seemingly through it.

" _And neither will_ ** _he_** he thought.

The next moment found Dana at his side. He didn't speak, move, nor give any indication he was aware of her arrival. He would let her initiate.

"Thought I'd find you here," Dana said.

Hades gave an affirmative nod.

With that, silence descended once more.

This time, it was Hades that broke the quiet.

"Is there something you would like to talk about, Dana?" Hades slowly asked.

Dana furrowed her brow and took a deep breath.

"Yep, sure is," she sighed.

"I am listening."

Dana opened her mouth, only to close it immediately after. She took her time, trying to find the appropriate way to communicate her intent.

"Hades… why do you come here, every year?" she asked tentatively.

Hades continued to look at the ground, as if the pavement would recede under his stare at any moment, and reveal the soil underneath.

And what was in it.

"I come to say that I am sorry."

Dana didn't need to ask again. It was now clear why he was here; to repent. She knew the feeling all too well.

"It wasn't your fault."

"But it was, wasn't it? I killed them, and I meant to do it."

"Because you were scared of what they would do?"

"I was scared they would be like me."

Hades' face adopted a doleful expression.

"One of them already did."

Dana didn't respond to that immediately, instead she gave general nod and allowed a moment for the conversation to sink in before speaking again.

Before she could, however, a drop of water landed on the bridge of her nose. Then another one. And another. Soon the rain rapidly came down in fat drops onto their heads.

"Sonuvabitch. Left my umbrella in the trunk," Dana said, as she wiped away some of her hair that was beginning to stick to her face.

As soon as Dana said that, a tendril grew and extended from Hades' shoulder to above their heads, where it expanded into a thin, radial membrane, halting the rain above their heads.

"Thanks."

Hades gave another nod.

Some additional time passed between the two, before Dana made up her mind.

"Hades, I want you to look at me."

Hades complied, and he slowly turned to face one of the few friends he had in this world.

"Yes Dana?" Hades asked, his face held a small smile and his tone kept casual despite a slight sense of nervousness at the blunt order.

Dana looked into Hades' large sanguine eyes. She was gonna hate this part.

"Hades, I want you to come with me back to Guy's place, and I don't want you to come back here again."

Hades remained stock still. His carmine gaze never leaving hers. To the observer, Hades would appear no more or less curious to her statement than he was to the original question.

It was another characteristic of his kind. Their polymorphic qualities making it near impossible to provoke a telling expression. They would not blush, sweat, flinch, or blink unless it was absolutely deliberate.

Internally however…

"You shouldn't be out here by yourself. If you want to talk about it, do it with me or Heller. Actually, scratch that; just talk to me. But I don't want you coming out here alone."

Hades continued to listen, despite the fact he dreaded each word more than the last. His internal mass was forming nervous knots, coiling and uncoiling to the point that if it continued it might have even been enough for Dana to notice his skin literally crawling.

"Guy and I parked over there. Come on, let's go home."

Dana reached out to take Hades' hand, but the moment contact was made Hades finally became animate. He pulled his hand back and took several steps back.

"D-Dana, wait! Please don't make me do that." Hades pleaded

"What?" Dana asked, startled by the sudden behavior.

"Please don't make me n-...not come back here. I need to, _really_."

"Why?"

"Cause if I don't…" Hades trailed off, slowly bringing his hands up to grab the sides of his hairless head, turning away from Dana. He needed to come here. If he didn't _they_ would get mad. He needed to come here. He needed to remember.

He needed to _suffer._

"I-I… I… I _need_ this, Dana. It… _helps_."

"With what?"

" _Them_. If I don't do it… I _see_ them."

"Who?" Dana's voice was beginning to tremble. She didn't expect this reaction. She could understand the need to repent but not like this.

She began to reach for her phone.

It did not go unnoticed.

"No! Please, Dana. Don't call Heller," said Hades, holding his hands up at Dana. "I know I scare you, but I don't mean to. I… I need to come here because I can see… those that I killed. I see Cassie..." Hades spoke, calming himself down.

Dana's eyes widened at the name. She knew of her significance with Hades.

She brought her hand back up, much to Hades' relief.

"But… you _didn't_ kill her, Hades. Your da-... Doctor Veselin did," Dana spoke slowly and kept her voice low.

"I know that," Hades replied, nodding his head. "But… I am responsible, nonetheless. I caused her to die."

"You _know_ that's not true."

Hades said nothing, instead he stared into Dana's eyes. Gone was his neutral expression, contorted into one of conflict and anxiety.

"Perhaps. But I… still see her, all the same."

For a moment, the two just stood there, without a word. The situation had already rapidly escalated to a point she was unprepared for and de-escalated just as quickly. She would have to tread carefully.

"You know, what I said still stands. You can always talk to me. You're _not alone_ Hades. You're _not_ , Okay? We can help you. We can help _them_." Dana slowly said, enunciating every critical word.

Hades continued to be silent, but he seemed to relax. Could she help? Was it possible?

"All I ask is that you and I head back to Guy's. You can tell me _all_ about Cassie and the others. I can help you, Hades, and I _will_. I _promise_."

Dana reached her hand out, and held it there.

Hades was still silent. His face, once visibly contorted in a maelstrom of emotion had once again achieved calmness. His eyes still contained anxiety and uncertainty, but it was contained there.

He slowly began walking toward Dana.

Over what felt like an eternity to the both of them, Hades was inches away from taking her hand in his.

In that moment, a man sat in his chair, watching a screen. On that screen was Hades and Dana, their hands inches apart. In the bottom right corner of the screen, a "II" symbol sat. The distance remained the same; both were perfectly still. Even the rain had frozen in the air. It was if time had stopped completely.

The man, the room, in fact the entire setting, was both everywhere and nowhere. Conventional concepts of distance and time held no meaning here. Indeed, walking through an open door could have you in a place far removed from where you just were.

The man wore a tan suit with an oversized hot pink tie loosely tied around his neck. He, himself looked young and fresh, and possessed long, bronze-colored hair tied into a ponytail and a braided beard that reached down past his collar.

The chair was leather, and could have been described as old Victorian in style and design, yet no wear or marks of age were present. Next to the chair sat another one of the exact same features, but empty.

The room itself was small, it's walls filled with shelves where books upon books sat. Placed around the room were furniture of antique design. There were no lighting fixtures present. Instead, a great hearth containing a silent, raging fire was impressed into a wall, providing the illumination. Above that, sat the large television.

"And here...we... ** _go._** "

And with that, the man snapped his fingers.

Hades was about to take Dana's hand, when there was a sudden, terrible din.

It sounded like a great industrial ventilator was activated with nothing to muffle the noise.

But before he could question the source, Dana was instantly yanked backwards off her feet. She tumbled head over heels from the unseen force, until she fell through the source of the disturbance.

A great hole had opened up in the pavement with air pouring into it, like an unstoppable vacuum.

Hades himself was almost yanked in before tendrils burst from his legs to anchor him on the precipice of the hole. He spotted Dana's body falling away from him. Hades threw his arm forward, sending a tendril from his palm to reach and latch onto his friend.

For some unknown reason, it was difficult to make out what exactly was on the other side. There was light on the other side, some blue and gold, but it was like looking through a filter or film. He could make out Dana's body, but only just.

The hole itself was equally strange. It was perfectly rectangular. The extreme geometry was highly suspicious for something like a sinkhole, as well as the light on the other side and the extreme vacuum it was creating.

Something was horribly wrong.

Hades mind raced as he pulled his friend up as fast as he could. Just what _was_ this thing?!

He was almost there, but the vacuum seemed almost unnaturally intense, causing her to travel a great distance from him originally, and making the act of pulling her up far more difficult than precedented.

Dana was quickly closing in.

Almost…

 _Almost…_

Hades reached out to grab Dana as she was about to break the surface.

As he did, a sudden sense of vertigo surged through him.

The hole had inexplicably expanded, rendering his anchors useless as he was overtaken.

Hades fell through the hole and into the other side. As he did so, all feeling of gravity was immediately eliminated. Reaching out, Hades desperately tried to right himself, or find a handhold, to no avail.

But there was a greater problem.

There was no air.

Hades, and those like him, had no issues in extreme environments. The idea of a literal vacuum was of no concern.

But it was for _Dana_.

In a panic, his cells immediately prioritized sensory and neurological processes. The tumbling seemed to slow to a halt, and he was able to make out the "hole", which appeared as a perfect rectangle of grey, raining clouds amidst a backdrop of… stars?

Reeling Dana into his grasp, he shot another tendril at the hole. Feeling the impact, he sent it deep into the pavement, away from the hole to avoid any other possible "expansions".

Hades reeled himself as fast as he could. Seconds had passed since Dana had fallen in, but the longer she went without an atmosphere the worse. He needed her out of this " _place"_ , **_now._**

Hades reached the hole just as a familiar grey hand burst through the filmy layer. Reacting instantly, he transferred Dana into the outstretched hand, which immediately pulled her out.

Relieved at the newfound safety of his friend, Hades focused on getting out himself.

His arm broke through just as he felt two of Guy's hands grasped it to assist. He just broke the surface and could se-

Blackness.

Vertigo.

He couldn't feel his arm.

Hades threw out his other arm and tried to grasp at… something. _Anything._ But there was nothing. His arm was gone, along with his sight, and that meant…

No.

No, no _no_ ** _NO!_**

* * *

Guy had been through the Blacklight Outbreaks. He'd seen a lot of things. Horrible things. Crazy things. All sorts of things, really. But he had _never_ seen something like this.

In his two right hands, he held Dana, gasping for air, over his shoulder. In his two left hands…

Was Hades' left arm, a tendril extending from the palm and into the pavement a few yards away.

And on the ground, right in front of him, was his _face_. Eyeballs and all.

He came running when he heard a commotion, only to find out Hades and Dana were just having some words and they ended up settling down. He was about to head back to the car when the "vacuum cleaner from Hell" happened. But Hades fell in right before he could grab him.

And now the damn thing closed. Right on top of him.

There was no doubt in Guy's mind. It sounded so damn impossible, but there was no other explanation he could think of to explain the instantaneous appearance, disappearance, impossible shape, and how it just sliced through Blacklight biomass like nothing when it closed.

In the span of seconds, he just lost an employee and friend... to a freakin' _portal_.

Guy took a long, shaky breath. He looked at the arm, then back into Hades' now-lifeless eyes.

"Heller's not gonna like this..."

_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._

 ** _Author's Note:_**

Took me a while, but I finally found out how to clean up the chapter's format. This is the very first story I have written, fanfic or otherwise, and publishing it is a first. I was busy when I first published and I didn't have time to read it as a viewer to see how it translated from G-Docs to here, but I came back and made sure to clean it up, as you can see.

It was originally published on Wattpad under the same name (and it's still there and I'll update it alongside this one), but I decided it would be best to spread out as much as possible

Like I said, this is an absolute first for me, so getting used to the writing and Fanfiction's/Wattpad's systems is gonna take a while. I can't promise any regular/consistent updates because of that, I'm afraid. So, if anyone who has experience with either of the two has any advice, I'd would be grateful for the help. Any and all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, because it improves my skills which improves the quality of the work which improves **_your_** experience.

Anyway, thanks for the read. Have a good one, everybody.

~ Snip Stiff


	2. Shattered Perceptions

**_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._**

James Heller was not one to take any enjoyment in office work.

When he was appointed the head of the Blacklight Operations Task Force, he was more than happy to take the fight to the maniacs that were left after he took a bite out of Mercer's pretty face. He must've done too good a job because now, five years after the fact, all there was to do was piles of paperwork and being the world's posterboy of today's law-abiding Evolved. Or Blacklight Civilians, as the world knows them…

Sick as he was of constantly sitting in a chair placing pointless signatures and making pointless phone calls he was practically ecstatic when he got a call from Guy saying that there was trouble. Said attitude changed very fast when the next words out of his mouth had "Dana", "Hades", and "Hospital" in them. Any degree of relief that a "hands-on" kind of problem would have given him was completely erased whenever it had anything to do with Dana and that ticking time bomb, Hades.

He literally pounded pavement getting to the hospital. He didn't even bother talking to the receptionist aside from flashing his badge and following the scent to Dana's room. Upon nearly tearing the door out of the wall, he was greeted by the sight of a human Guy, a bedridden Dana, and a startled nurse. Before the nurse could make a statement, James showed his badge again. The nurse jumped slightly and some color drained from her face when she recognized the badge.

"What're the injuries?" James snapped.

"T-t-t-the… um… Miss Mercer has s...suffered some bruising around the r-ribs, capillary d-damage, a ruptured e-eardrum, and-and temporary loss of vision. I-It appears t-to have been cause by e-exposure to some sort of… v-vacuum." The nurse stuttered.

James turned to Guy, who remained remarkably stalwart in the face of James' iron-melting glare.

"What. The. _**Fuck?**_ " said James through gritted teeth.

Guy raised a finger as he went to speak, "First off, it wasn't Hades' fau-"

"Am I fucking stuttering _too_?! Allow me to repeat myself! What the _fuck_ happened?!"

Guy closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. This was not going to be fun. He cracked an eye open toward the nurse.

"Hey, Miss? Could we have some privacy, please? Oh, and when you hear yelling, don't panic."

The nurse gave a shaky nod before quickly walking out of the room.

"Okay, first of all: no one got in a fight with anybody."

"Then why the fuck are we here, Guy?"

"It's... complicated."

" **BULLSHIT!** " James yelled, losing his temper and shoving a finger in Guy's face.

"Would you shut the _fuck up already?!_ "

James head nearly turned backwards to look at Dana. He got a good look at her face and arms, which were the few things not covered in the hospital gown or the sheets of the bed. Her skin was red, as if it was sunburned, and was dotted with bruises. Her cheeks and arms looked a little puffy and swollen as well. Her eyes were bloodshot, and fixed into a scowl.

"Hades was the one who _saved_ me you _douche_."

James tisked and rolled his eyes. Of course he did. He didn't trust Hades to be alone on a good day, but he could at least give him the credit of being fine when left around Dana.

"Fine. Give me the short of it."

Guy couldn't prevent a grimace from tugging at his cheeks.

" _Okay…_ Hades went to the old Gentek HQ, Dana went to talk to him, they got into a short spat, made up, and were about to leave when a portal opened up and sucked them both in. Dana got out, but it closed before Hades did."

Guy raised raised his arms up and gestured to the room around them.

"And now Hades is gone."

To prove his point, Guy reached into his chest, which gave way before his hand like a pool of water, and retrieved two items. One was Hades arm, the other was his face.

"Given Dana's and my eyewitness accounts, and her injuries, it sounds like he's somewhere in space. _That's_ the short of it," finished Guy, tilting his head to look at James out of the corner of his eye, waiting for his reaction.

Uncomfortable silence filled the room like a deafening void, the only sound being the heartbeat monitor's chime and slight hum of the air condition outside the room. James stared at the body parts, processing what he heard and what he was seeing. On one hand, the part with the portal sounded beyond stupid. He was tempted to call bullshit again, but the last things Guy said coupled with the genuine body parts being presented were giving him pause. Even the nurse corroborated with the story, with her summary of Dana's condition.

James stared at Guy for a while, absorbing the sheer lunacy of the conclusion, but not finding any real rebuttal outside of just how… _stupid_ it was.

"So…" James slowly asked, "You mean to tell me...that _Hades_ … fell through a _portal..._ into _space?_ "

"Yes," Both Dana and Guy said in unison.

"You can't be fucking _serious_ ," James groaned as he leaned his head back and rub eyes.

"Why would we joke about this? _Look_ at me for Christ's sake!" said Dana gesturing at herself, "You think this is some prank where I asked Hades to hide in a dumpster somewhere while Guy fucking blew me up from the inside out?!"

Guy snorted, barely holding in laughter.

Dana rolled her eyes.

"Oh ha ha ha. Shut your mouth."

"How the hell did this happen?!" James interrupted, "Freakin' portals don't just _magically appear_ out of thin air!"

"...Well, they sure did _now_. Or do you want to try that 'non-lethal' way of seeing my memories and stuff?"

"We're still working on that. But…" James looked to Hades' arm and face, still in Guys grasp, "I don't think we'll need to do that."

"You mean you believe us? Wow, that was quick," Guy remarked, holding a surprised expression.

"Not much of a choice," James scoffed, "even if we could find and grab him, which we obviously can't, the Trans-state Visas are in the works. Any trouble regarding Blacklight Civies is gonna make for good ammo by the opponents. They've been waiting to make a big stink about _anything_. If I were to set up a search operation for someone with a record like Hades, they're gonna smell a rat and it's gonna be all of our asses when the Visas get tanked for it. Then we'll have to wait another fuckin' five years before we can leave this godforsaken city."

James scowled and jerked a thumb toward himself.

"I've been working my _balls off_ convincing the wigs to go through with this. When they found out who Hades was, _where he came from_ , I laid myself on a slab telling them that he wouldn't be a problem. And now…"

James growled before thrusting his hands into the air.

"Now he's in the fucking wind! And there's _fucking nothing_ I can do about it!"

"Hey!" Dana yelled, "Chill out. He'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

James refocused back onto Guy and Dana. The temperature seemed to drop several degrees in that moment.

"As much as I would like to think you're right, Dana. As much as I would like to think he'll be fine… I can't. It's too risky. Too many people are riding on this to get the hell out of here."

"That's not fair to _him!_ " Dana shot back.

"You think it's fair for _**anybody?!**_ " James snapped, "You think I like having you babysit the one punk that can ruin it for every other B.C. here? You _know_ they won't give a fuck that, 'Ohhhhh… but he's just _one_ guy!'; Alex was one guy, and he caused this shit to begin with! _**Twice!**_

"If he suddenly plummets out of the sky and, god forbid, people find out, do you honestly think they'll buy your 'portal' shit?! _No!_ They'll look at me and you and they'll ask why he was there, and why we couldn't stop him. When we tell them that some spontaneous portal _bullshit_ fucking magicked him into fucking space, we'll be eaten alive in the media and _all_ the people who have been waiting for _five fucking_ _ **years**_ to get out of here are gonna be hung out to dry! I can't do _shit_ , Dana, and neither can you!"

James opened his mouth to continue… but didn't. Nobody said a word after that, instead they all stood there, either looking at their hands or feet. After a while, James let out a tired sigh.

"We'll just have to wait. Wait and hope for a miracle that he'll land somewhere we can grab him fast without anyone noticing. Or at least stay in space till it's over."

"Assuming he's still here," Guy stated, raising a finger.

James looked back with a confused expression.

"...What?"

"Portals, man. They can take you anywhere. Like, literally _anywhere._ He could be on another planet, in another solar system, even in another galaxy. Hell, he could be in another freakin' _universe_ right now and we wouldn't know. We may _never_ see Hades again."

The three of them began looking at each other with increasingly anxious faces. Another universe? Gone forever? James may not have trusted Hades, but he'd never want this for him.

"So…," Dana began, "That's the big question then…

"Where is he?"

* * *

There was no air.

Only dust. Pale dust.

His face was back, as was his arm. No trouble; he's regenerated from far worse with ease.

That wasn't the trouble. No, it was where he was.

Wherever "here" was.

Hades looked around him. There was no atmosphere, and so nothing to block the sight of space and stars. In front of him was a massive orb of blues, greens, and whites. A planet, and an earthlike one at that. Next to it, far off into the distance, a blazing ball of light. A star; the sun of this solar system.

And all around him, was the alabaster expanse of the planet's moon.

He had landed there shortly after the… "hole" closed. He appeared very close to its surface and it's weak gravity pulled him down to it.

After landing, he simply sat down. He was so confused. How did the hole take him here? Why did it take him here? What should he do now?

He looked down at his hands in the naked light of the sun.

Immediately something was wrong.

He degenerated and regenerated his eyes. No, they were functioning properly. There was nothing wrong with them.

But… then why did he look… _wrong?_

His hands, and the rest of him, looked... _off_. The differences were extremely obvious; even a regular human would instantly notice. Despite this he found it difficult to describe. It was as if someone took him and redid him using some sort of… modeling software and textures, almost.

He looked… rendered. _Fake._

He looked around again. Now that he saw it, it also was the same with the moon and the planet, although their sheer scales made it less obvious at-

He stopped.

There, floating amidst the emptiness in space, was a massive white… thing.

It was massive. From where he sat, he could see the bottom half, jagged and broken by what ever force that caused it. The top half, however, was very smooth. In fact, it possessed a gentle curve, like it was once a portion of the face of a great white sphere.

Hades froze when he realized what it was.

It was a chunk of the _moon_.

Hades looked above and behind him. There were more. Countless more.

Some were small enough to be little pins of white against the blackness of space, clustered together like a mist. Others were like the first; so monstrously huge that they demonstrated the moon's very circumference in their unbroken edges.

The moon was _**shattered**_.

Hades remained stock still, as if any further movement would destroy the rest of the moon and send him tumbling into deep space. How was this _**possible?!**_ What terrifying force could do such a thing? A stray comet?

Hades looked back upon the planet. He could see no craters, or any evidence of impacts. The thriving biosphere also implied that nothing cataclysmic had taken place in many, many years.

' _But it would have. These pieces are disturbingly large. Whatever force did this would no doubt send pieces onto the planet. At these sizes, the planet would have been razed. This had to have occurred countless years ago if organisms have redeveloped as they seem to have,'_ Hades thought.

As Hades continued to look at the planet, he found even more things that were wrong. The continents were completely foreign to him. They were nothing like the ones he had seen in maps and photos. Whereas Earth as he knew it had seven continents, this one had what looked like only _five_. There was a very large "U"-shaped one with another right above it, remarkably shaped like a dragon complete with an open mouth and wings. To its right was a smaller mass of land with a portion of its left side in the shape of a serpent. The other two were less oddly shaped, with one situated close to the northern pole, directly above the space between the "U" continent and the serpent one. The other, the smallest of them, was below and to the right of the serpent continent, in where would have been Australia.

Hades pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged his shins. He gaze became unfocused as he stared ahead into nothing. A cold, familiar feeling was creeping through him. He's been nervous before, but he hasn't felt dread like this in a while. He hated being confused. Bad things happened when he was confused. The last time he was this confused he killed a lot of people. Some of them he shouldn't have.

He was very, very confused.

Where was he? Why did everything look wrong? Why was the moon so _horribly_ damaged? Why were the continents different?

 _ **Where was he?!**_

 **_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._**

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry for the wait; work was murder as of late. I'm going to have some schedule changes soon and it should free up more time to write, so the next chapter should come at least a little sooner than this one. Other than that, nothing else. Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review.

~Snip Stiff


	3. Landfall

**_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._**

Hades had been walking for a while. He wasn't sure how long he had been there. His internal clock was usually good at keeping track of time, but he wasn't so sure anymore given the circumstances.

Hades reached into his chest and pulled out his phone. Hitting the power button, he was thankful to see that it still operated in the alien environment. After the startup sequence, the clock screen showed that it was ten thirty two p.m.. It was around eight o'clock before Dana visited him, so that meant he was on the moon for two and a half hours.

He listened to the sound of his steps as he walked. To say that there was no sound because of the lack of atmosphere would be wrong. Sound needed a medium, be it solid, liquid or gas. In this case, he could hear his gentle footfalls on the lunar soil through his own biomass, like putting one's ear to a wall and tapping on it. Walks like these always served to help lessen anxiety for him. However, no matter how hard he tried the anxiety never died down completely; not this time. It felt like a small, constant vibration in the center of his core. It felt so unreal. It felt like he was stuck in a dream.

Hades stopped walking. No, he didn't dream of things like this. He dreamed of…

He shivered.

Hades shook off the feeling. That wasn't what mattered right now. What mattered was returning home, to New York. But how was he supposed to do that? It begged countless questions in his mind. He was spontaneously, and inexplicably, dropped onto a moon orbiting an _observably_ alien planet; how would he get back? What could he do? _Could_ he go back? What if he was stuck here... _Permanently?_

The vibrating feeling spread. He could feel it throughout his chest now. The idea of staying in some strange place forever didn't scare him. He was Blacklight; he would survive, adapt, and thrive. He could _own_ that planet the moment he set foot on it... if there weren't other people on it; then ethics would be under question. No, it was the idea of _losing everything_ he worked hard to get that scared him. All the relationships he made... all the pain - the _sacrifices_ \- he made…

For nothing... Absolutely nothing...

He refocused his gaze onto the planet above the horizon. He'd would have to go there. He didn't know whether or not there were people, or anything that could be described as a "person", on that planet, and he didn't know if going there would even help him get home, but he didn't want to stay on the moon. He could survive without much trouble, living off the soil and ice, but he had no intention of living such a pitiful existence.

He stared at the planet, studying its features. he didn't know how big it was. It seemed to be like photos of Earth taken from its moon as far as size went, but it could be far larger than Earth and only appear just as big due to distance. Getting there wasn't a problem; he had a few methods in his head. From simply jumping off the moon hard enough, to biomass ejection, to getting hydrogen from one of the pole's ice to burn off in thrusters. He'd done it before when flying when regular wings got boring. He _was_ required to fix the pavement and buildings from his first couple landings, though.

Good times. Better times.

Hades checked inside himself. The moon's low gravity made it impossible for any of the soil to naturally compact or become dense, which meant that while he could _technically_ jump out of the moon's gravitational field, the force of the jump would do more to shove his legs into the loose, dust-like soil than actually propel him. He _really_ didn't want to sacrifice his biomass either, but he currently didn't have enough hydrogen in him to create any kind of thrust. That left getting ice, but he wasn't sure where on the moon he was and that meant he'd have to search for the poles.

Assuming the piece of moon he was on was even _attached_ to the poles.

Hades let out an airless sigh. It could take a while depending on how close or how far away the closest pole was, again; assuming the hunk he was one was connected to them to begin with, but he would just have to look everywhere for it.

Hades lightly pushed off the ground. As he did so, his body was overtaken by black growths that appeared and spread all over his body. In an instant, he morphed into a convulsing mass of tendrils, black as pitch with bioluminescent patches that glowed a deep red. A thick tendril shout out from the mass, embedding itself into the dirt before pulling the rest of it down. The mass dug deep, going further and further down before spreading out like the rhizoids of a great, all-encompassing mold. The liquid flesh fed on the soil, using it to facilitate its ceaseless expansion. It blazed through the moon's surface at shocking speeds, scouring through it for any signs of frozen water.

In his search for ice, Hades was able to find more information on where exactly on the moon he was, or more specifically, where he _wasn't_. It turned out that he was indeed not on the main body of the moon, but rather a chunk hovering above it if the sheer, gargantuan white thing underneath the floating lunar island he was on was any indication.

Fortunately, it would seem the chunk was once part of the moon's poles as scrounging along the edge revealed ice deposits. The amount was less than he wanted, but it would be enough to get off the moon with a good amount of speed. It wouldn't leave much for slowing down once he got there, though.

He consumed more soil; if he couldn't avoid an impact, he would take it head on.

After spending a few more minutes checking for any ice he may have missed, a great reaction took place inside the mass. Thick coils of tendrils swelled as powerful electrogenic organs rapidly grew inside them. Electricity sparked and ran between the tendrils like living, writhing jacob's ladders. A complex network of conductive nerve cells developed within the tendrils, directing the powerful volts toward the ice contained in the mass as the flesh around them heated up, reducing the ice to water. As the ice melted, the liquid water was diverted to smaller, numerous tendrils where the water and electricity met. Making sure to keep the surface area of the reaction as high as possible, Hades began the electrolysis process.

* * *

Eventually, the ice was successfully reduced to hydrogen and oxygen. Hades decided to keep the oxygen in the event he needed it. No point in wasting material he worked to get. Now was the time to put it to use.

The lungs containing the two gases began to constrict as heat was vented from them. The lungs constricted tighter and tighter, bearing extreme force onto its contents until there were reduced to a fraction of their size. After a few minutes, the gaseous oxygen and hydrogen in the lungs were condensed into liquid state.

The mass shuddered as the its roots upheaved themselves from the soil. The miles of viral biomass covering the surface of the moon suddenly converged before shooting out across the ground like a long snake. The body sped across the lunar surface at an extreme pace, heading in the direction of the planet. It would be best to be facing the planet directly at takeoff to avoid wasting what little fuel he had in a course correction.

The slithering mass surged until the planet loomed directly overhead. Countless, lidless eyes appeared across the top of Hades' form, making sure the spot was appropriate for his intent. The long body shortened and fattened into a mound. Inside, the lungs containing the hydrogen fused into a single one at the center as large pockets opened from the bottom and connected to the lung via long trachea-like tubes.

Several minute addendums and everything was in place. The mound of viral flesh had adopted a short, wide shape. Fat, stubby tendrils spread out across the ground, shoved the mass up off the ground a short distance, and held it there. Hades gave one last look at the moon's surface, committing it to memory. He'd wondered what it was like to be on the moon, and while this wasn't Earth's moon, it was close enough. In fact, it was… cool to think that he was probably the very first living organism to be on this alien moon. If only the situation were different.

'Speaking of which,' he thought.

A space opened in the side of the mass and a tendril holding his phone came out. Smaller tendrils on the end accessed the phone's camera and took a few pictures of the scene and the planet above.

'Documentation is important, especially now,' He thought, returning his phone to his flesh. With everything finally out of the way, he began the launch.

The mass' tendrils shoved off the ground as the thrusters activated, sending copious amounts of lunar dust all around in a massive cloud. The jellyfish-like mass quickly shot off the surface of the moon toward the planet at a speed uncanny for something of its size. The hydrogen lung constricted further and further as the moon fell away beneath it.

Within just a few minutes of burning, the lung was spent and the thrusters fell silent. Fortunately, Hades was more than far enough from the moon to not worry about falling back, and had enough speed to where he didn't think he had to worry about the planet orbiting out of the way and making him miss. It did, however, mean he had practically no way of predicting his landing spot at this point. Not that it would matter as far as landing difficulty, but certain environments were objectively better than others when it came to civilization building, and the more efficient he was with his time, the better.

* * *

In the space between spaces a bearded man sat in his chair, staring at a large screen featuring what he liked to call a "massive space jellyfish". He continued to stare at the screen for a few more moments before letting out a short sigh.

"Welp. Not much to see here," as he picked up and pressed a button on a remote from the arm of his chair. Immediately, the gentle movements of the tendrils trailing behind the creature were greatly exaggerated as a high-pitched whirring sound came from the screen.

As he was waiting for the right moment, a door behind him suddenly barged open.

"Well now, what's the program for tonight?" a loud, gruff voice interjected.

The bearded man simply smiled as he continued to fast-forward his entertainment.

"Nothing much… for now. He just arrived."

The room was filled with the heavy footfalls of boots on the wood floor as the figure approached the second chair and took a seat.

As the figure did so, the bearded man turned his head to look at his guest. The figure, male, was of more significant bulk than he was, wearing a stained, red t-shirt and cargo pants secured by a thick leather belt with a huge iron buckle. However, the man's facial features were a perfect copy, from the color of his hair to his beard, jaw, and cheekbones. The only difference was that his hair was shorter and loose.

The guest looked back at him, noticing their similarities with a risen eyebrow.

"What inspired this mimicry?"

"Well, you just seem so full of yourself all the time so I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I have to say it's pretty overrated," holding back a chuckle.

"So sayeth the man who'd rather be a second-rate version of me than himself."

The man threw his head back as he barked out a sarcastic laugh. As he looked back at his guest, his past features were gone and the mimicry was broken. The beard receded into a sharp, hairless chin and his hair turned a deep black. The once gruff features on his face became sharp and blemishless. His clothes became a pitch black suit.

"With looks like these, I've nothing to envy. If only you knew half of my grace."

A quiet moment passed as a smile slowly grew across his guest's face, until he spoke a single word in response.

"Sleipnir."

The fair man's eyes widened considerably a moment before averting to the floor, a grimace formed on his face.

"We promised to never speak of that again…"

"Ohhhh… is he a little _embarrassed_ of his past _graces?_ " his guest laughed.

"Enough!" the man shouted, turning back toward the television.

"Damnit! Look what you've done with your petty distractions!" he said as he reached for the remote and set about rewinding his latest form of amusement.

"Meddling with the fates of others again? What is it this time?"

"A shapeshifter, impervious of body. Psyche… not as much" He replied, eyeing the screen.

"Sounds like a real entertainer," said his guest, "What's the matter, hit a boring bit?"

"Apt description for floating through space for many hours."

"Then why send him there? Why not send him directly where you want?"

"Because what I _want_ is to see where he lands. It's more fun if there is some mys - Aha! Here we are!"

The fair man hit another button on the remote and the exaggerated movements and sounds from the television returned to their normal proportions, and the bars turned into a triangle. This time Hades form was covered in flame as he hurtled through the planet's atmosphere.

"Now we may see something interesting,"

* * *

Hades extended an eyestalk out of the smoldering crater he left in the sand and looked around.

And saw nothing but more sand.

He was hoping to hit somewhere near the lush green area of the planet, since that would be the best environment for agriculture and animal husbandry, which would in turn provide the best location for settlement building, but he… missed.

He never went to the moon and back before, and none of the Gentek or Blackwatch personnel he consumed had any helpful knowledge on the subject either. It was no surprise he failed at being accurate with guesses on landing spots.

Regardless, he made planetfall and he would conduct his investigation immediately.

Looking around the area, he was clearly in an empty, arid desert, complete with dunes, withered flora, and the occasional dust devil. It was also nighttime, with the moon he arrived from still in the sky, however edging closer to the horizon.

Now off the moon, Hades was able to get a much better look at it. The moon itself was actually mostly intact, however it was still horrendously damaged. It still retained its integrity on all portions save the right side, with most of it completely disintegrated, causing the remaining moon to have a permanent crescent shape. The larger pieces were surprisingly still very close to where they may have originally broke off given their edges matched with those of the major lunar mass, like a jigsaw puzzle, with the others getting slightly more off course and smaller the farther from the moon they went. Between floating debris, Hades could clearly make out space and stars behind the moon along the damaged edge, which meant that whatever did this exerted enough force to not only deface the moon, but punch all the way through it from front to back.

In the end, it made for a very beautiful sight.

Once more retrieving his phone from within he took a picture of the moon for later. Receding his eyestalk back into the half-buried viral mass he arrived in, Hades heaved himself out of the crater and elongated into a snake-like form like that on the moon before striking out across the sands, the outer flesh darkening and adjusting to the low light to assume minimal visibility for the huge, slithering creature. He didn't have a North Star to guide him nor any direction set, but figured that so long as he stayed in a straight line he would eventually reach a pole or coast. Both involved water, and water involved life.

Hades continued on until the moon receded past the horizon and the first rays of sunlight began to bleed through, causing the sky to adopt angry red and orange hues.

Hades halted suddenly, and slowly raised his huge, arrow shaped reptilian head and watched the sunrise. A truly alien sunrise.

On the moon, the unfiltered light from the sun reflecting off the featureless gray expanse around him caused everything to be whitewashed to the point of colorlessness, making the original discovery of the strange behavior of light here to almost go unnoticed until Hades looked at himself and saw the differences up close. Even after arriving on world moon's light was the only one around, casting everything in the same muting shade, lessening the phenomena again. But now…

Oh _now_ …

Earlier on the moon it became apparent something was wrong. The shadows were off; the way darkness and light seemingly interacted seemed discombobulated. But now a whole new facet was revealed: color. Hades had seen sunsets before in New York. He viewed it between the smokeline and the horizon from atop a tall building in the Red Zone during the Second Outbreak and, while macabre, was a sight he will remember for a long time. This sunset however, looked oversaturated in comparison. The colors, while ordinary in that there was no strange colors or anything, were noticeably deeper and more vivid than what they should've been, especially since there was no smog or anything that would naturally change a sunset. The contrast between lighter shades and darker ones seemed more exaggerated. It looked like a painting where the artist decided to use only the deepest, most saturated colors possible with very little exceptions.

Hades mused to himself that he had barely been on this alien planet for twenty four hours and he has already been distracted by the landscape several times. Although, it being an alien planet by nature, it was natural wasn't it? This was the first occurrence of such a thing in history after all. He had an excuse.

Deciding it was yet another picture-worthy moment, Hades retrieved his phone from within his mass and turned it on. Opening the camera appli-

 _'Bang, bang'_

Hades immediately went still.

 _'Dakadakadakadakadaka'_

Hades drew in his phone and focused on the sounds. He was in the middle of the desert; there were little opportunities for sounds like that to happen naturally. Of course, this wouldn't have changed anything at all, because Hades knew exactly what those sounds were.

They were gunshots.

 **_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._**

 **Author's Note:**

Welp, this took far too long to get done. I blame life problems and writer's block.

Regardless, enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review.


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